Based on the novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer and directed by Jon Avnet (UP CLOSE & PERSONAL), THE STARTER WIFE portrays the soul-searching journey of a woman who reevaluates her priorities after her divorce. Molly Kagan (Debra Messing) has been married to Hollywood film mogul Kenny (Peter Jacobson) for nearly 10 years, until he leaves her for a younger woman, Shoshanna (Trilby Glover). Molly's friends Joan (Judy Davis) and Rodney (Chris Diamantopoulos) come to the rescue, to insure that it's only a matter of time before Molly finds romance again.

Professional Reviews

Monsters and Critics 9 of 10Grazer's quick paced tale has been made into a masterful froth by screenwriters Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott, written with the style of Grazer's original laconic humor, resulting in a light and dark retelling of the original story for television...It will appease fans of the book and features a superb cast that includes Debra Messing, Joe Mantegna, Miranda Otto & Anika Noni Rose and Judy Davis...Messing as Molly is pitch-perfect as the unwitting instant pariah. She's forty-something, and over the hill in a town that worships youth, beauty, and status...Along the lines of "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" - a sexy, mysterious beach stud saves Molly from an ill-fated sea kayak excursion in the rough, Pacific shoreline...This is not "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" heavy fare, far from it, and bless you, Gigi, for having the stones to put it down for all our voyeuristic and vicarious guilty pleasure. - April MacIntyre